Sea Foam Stuck on the Rocks
by stalactice
Summary: All Rin wanted to do after class was eat dinner, finish up some homework, and then spend the rest of his evening practicing his 100m freestyle race for the upcoming prefecture tournament. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently so. And why was there a synchronized swimming team in Samezuka's pool?
1. Chapter 1: Unsolicited Advice

"Sea Foam Stuck on the Rocks"

By stalactice

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with 'Free! Iwatobi Swim Club' or 'Free! Eternal Summer.' I also am not associated with any of the music mentioned in any of the chapters to come. This was made for purely entertainment (and partially cathartic) purposes and I make no profit from it. No copyright infringement is intended so please don't sue me. Thank you. Carry on.

Musical inspiration: "Little Lion Man" by Tonight Alive (Cover of Mumford and Sons)*clean version available*

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: Unsolicited Advice<p>

It was almost as if the water was fighting him that evening. Regardless of how much he trained, how much he prepared, how much he _wanted_ this goal, the water did not bend to his will. If anything, he was slowly submitting to the water's.

He slammed his hand against the wall of the pool and surfaced with a gasp. The chlorine was almost suffocating today and he hated it so, so much. He yanked his goggles off and twisted around to check the clock measuring his lap time. It was almost three-tenths of a second slower than his last run.

Matsuoka Rin scoffed, thinking the whole thing – the water _fighting _him, as Haru would say – was absolutely ridiculous. He could not afford any more slip ups. (Not if he wanted to win, not if he wanted to beat Nanase Haruka.)

So lost in his thoughts and the roaring of blood in his ears, Rin almost missed the shy prod from his kohai, Nitori Aiichirou, standing on the ledge above. "Um, Matsuoka-senpai?"

"Yeah?" Rin managed in between his ragged breaths. His head was pounding even more than the usual adrenaline rush. He made a mental note to look into it later, but knew that it would probably get lost in the chaos that was his brain.

"Don't you think that…well, everyone else has already left…" Nitori gestured to the empty benches soaked in puddles of pool water; the occasional _drip-drop_ fell to the linoleum floor. "So…maybe you should call it a day–"

Rin glowered through one of the wild maroon stands of hair plastered across his face. Despite the grey-haired first year's best intentions, Rin was not in the mood for his concern and the headache was not helping.

Nitori yelped and headed over to the booth to restart the clock. "Or maybe one more lap wouldn't hurt," he finished quickly.

"Tch," Rin clicked his tongue against the back of his teeth while messily shoving his hair back under the swim cap. He pulled himself out of the water and snapped his goggles back on, the familiar clap of the straps against his skull centering his attention back to his task. Nitori gave him the thumbs up to mount the starting block.

"Ready! Set!" Nitori called from across the pool. Rin braced himself to dive. The block felt like sandpaper against his skin today. He almost swore that the pads of his fingers and toes would tear off. But he had to focus…had to improve…faster…faster…three…two…

"MATSUOKA!" a disembodied form that sounded peculiarly like his captain bellowed from the far corner of the pool. And judging from his tone, Mikoshiba Seijuurou was _not pleased_ with him. At all.

_Great,_ Rin thought still frozen in place on the platform. _Just fine and dandy_. Straightening up from his lunge, Rin slid his goggles up to his forehead and tilted his head – probably a little too cockily – at his red-headed captain. Judging from his attire of Samezuka issued sweatpants and jacket with a towel slung over his shoulder, Mikoshiba probably just finished his shower and was ready to lock up.

"What?" Rin inquired in an exasperated tone. Mikoshiba sent him a warning glare. Rin sighed and reiterated more formally, "Yes, captain?"

"Better," Seijuurou remarked – his tone still less than impressed. He turned his attention to the clocking booth. "Nitori," Mikoshiba called in a gentler tone.

Nitori stood to his full height and saluted, "Yes?!" Rin thought the salute was a tad overboard, but he couldn't blame the kid for lack of manners.

Mikoshiba nodded towards the open door behind him, "You're dismissed."

The grey-haired first year shuffled towards his captain, bowed, and rambled through a formal farewell. "Thank you, captain I look forward to practice tomorrow!" His feet pattered and splattered as he made a beeline for the exit.

Silence reigned save for the sloshing of water against the edges of the pool. Rin chanced a glance out the window to guess how late it was. There was no sunlight to be found. He checked the clock that happened to be directly above Mikoshiba's head. 20:30.

"Shit," he hissed under his breath. "Here we go again."

Mikoshiba took deliberate steps from his side of the pool towards Rin. One he reached the younger red-head, Seijuurou glared up at his stubborn kohai, who still stood firmly planted on the starting block, hands on hips. Rin returned an uninterested stare. With a growl, Mikoshiba began, "Didn't we just talk about this not even twenty-four hours ago, Matsuoka?"

No response.

Rin saw his captain bite the inside of his cheek – a habit he returned to whenever he wanted to keep his temper in check. Crossing one arm over his chest and lowering his forehead into the other palm, Mikoshiba continued wearily, "You've certainly been swimming long enough to know that when the whistle blows, practice is over." Rin opened his mouth to speak, but his captain pressed on. Tightly he added, "It's not just for show. It's a rule." He shifted his arms to pull Rin down from the block and fixed him with a disapproving frown. "You don't get to decide which ones you want to follow and throw away the rest."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Rin chimed in pressingly, "It was only a couple of extra practice laps. My times were slower than usual today and I wanted to fix it for tomorrow's pract–"

"It's because you're dragging on your starting dive," Seijuurou cut off. At Rin's gawk, the third year waved it off, "But that's beside the point," Mikoshiba barked. Rin hated that he winced at the change in volume but held his gaze with his senior. Seijuurou pushed forward, "Practice ended an _hour and a half_ ago, Matsuoka." By this point his tone went cold. Rin bit his tongue to avoid saying anything else stupid. "Despite the fact," the captain hissed sardonically, "that you had enough common sense to have another person with you while you decided to _practice_, we have rules for a reason. I'm also not very pleased with the fact that you decided to drag your kohai – who nearly worships you, by the way," Rin already knew this but did not want to dwell on it at the moment, "into something like this."

Rin felt a curl of his lip begin to form, but he covered it with a formal bow, stray strands of hair falling across his cheeks, drops of water slipping down his arms. The puddles gave some relief to the hot spots forming on his feet. "I apologize, captain. This is the last time it will happen."

Mikoshiba released small scoff. "That's what you said yesterday when we had this _exact same_ conversation, Matsuoka. And stand up; I'm tired of the bows today." Rin thought it best to comply. Seijuurou sighed and scratched the back of his neck, "I can't fault you for your determination, but, frankly, your methods of improving suck."

Rin pulled off his cap and half-heartedly scowled. Mikoshiba chuckled under his breath at his team member's antics and turned to head for the exit. With a small backwards wave, he called, "Get some rest, Matsuoka. Until tomorrow."

"Wait! Captain!" Rin trotted after him. "What do you mean I'm dragging on the dive?" he raised an accusing eyebrow.

Mikoshiba simply chuckled in response. "See you at practice tomorrow, Matsuoka. Now, get out so I can lock up."

After gathering his things, Rin headed for the main hallway to the dorms – the clanging of Mikoshiba's keys fading behind him. Rin tugged at his bangs and sighed, "He didn't even answer the question. Dragging on the entry…what's that supposed to mean?" Releasing a frustrated groan, he adjusted his gym bag and slung his SHARK towel around his neck.

The thought of trudging back to his dorm crossed Rin's mind. Then he remembered that Nitori was probably buzzing with anxiety at the moment waiting for him to return. Honestly, Rin didn't want to deal with that much energy. So, instead, he took a 'detour' though the halls. He was fairly content that his dorm room window directly overlooked the aquatic center and it wasn't too far from class, but it had one major flaw…

"Matsuoka-senpai!" As Rin opened the door to his dorm, his greeting was Nitori bombarding him with questions and flurries of apologies. "Please don't say that you were kicked off the team, Matsuoka-senpai. If you were, I'll go talk with Mikoshiba-senpai immediately and," he began hyperventilating, "and…and…"

Rin dragged a hand down his face, wondering if he could escape while his kohai rattled faster and faster. Upon seeing the genuine concern in Nitori's face, Rin decided against his instinctual response and simply cut off the ramblings. "Nitori," he sighed tiredly. It had the desired effect as Aiichirou stopped mid-sentence with his arms spread out quite comically. Scratching the nape of his neck, Rin continued, "Don't worry about it."

Emptying his bag, Rin maneuvered around Aiichirou to toss his laundry in the basket. He reached over Nitori to grab a t-shirt and sweatpants for the evening before heading to the bathroom to change.

However, a resigned voice from behind him made Rin stop in his tracks. "Um… Matsuoka-senpai?"

Rin craned his head over his shoulder. "Hm?"

Nitori slid down against the wall under the window, pulled his knees to his chest, and stared at a stain in the hardwood floor. "Did you get in trouble because of me, senpai?" he managed a brittle squeak.

"Nitori," Rin nearly demanded. When his kohai finally met his eyes, he continued, "If I get in trouble it will be my own fault and problem, not yours. Got it?" Nitori nodded enthusiastically and wiped at his eyes with the hem of his shirt. "Get some sleep," Rin ordered tonelessly and moved on his way again.

Just as he closed the door behind him, Rin heard a rushed, "Thank you, Matsuoka-senpai!" The light seeping through the crack under the bathroom door disappeared. Ten seconds later, the _thump_ of Nitori hurling himself onto his bunk signaled Rin that the first-year took his advice _way_ too seriously. At a quick glance in the mirror, Rin noticed that the bags under his eyes were worse than yesterday (and the day before).

In the back of his mind, a thought tickled that maybe he should take his own advice.

_Since when have I ever done that?_ He thought spitefully.

Changing into his pajamas, Rin groaned as he discovered several hot spots forming on the pads of his toes. Even after applying soothing salve, the skin did not fit quite right. He ignored the sensation and finished getting ready for bed.

As he washed his hands, Rin could not help but notice that his hands felt heavier in the water than before. Memories of an eleven-year-old Haru – blue eyes steady and tone completely serious – stating that 'the water was alive,' flashed through Rin's mind.

"Yeah, right," he muttered bitterly to his reflection before switching off the bathroom light and collapsing into his bunk.

* * *

><p>The following classes were uneventful to say the least. Much to his frustration, Rin caught himself almost nodding off during Physics and English. Shaking off the drowsiness during Mathematics, he tried to convince himself that he would get more sleep the next night, though he had a nagging feeling that it was not going to happen in the near future.<p>

_Or at least until I beat Haru_.

"So, guess what today is?" The professor regained the class's attention, feigning enthusiasm. "Pop quiz!" He added in an overly-cheerful manner despite the chorus of groans from the students. The professor waved a dismissive hand at their antics and passed out the quizzes. Once Rin grabbed his copy, he skimmed over the problems and thanked whatever part of his brain that urged him to review last week's material after his run earlier that morning. "Since I'm feeling generous today," his sensei added, "everyone has until the end of class to finish. Good luck." Rin translated that statement as 'I need more time to finish grading papers.'

The quiz was nothing exceptional, but Rin always liked math because it just made sense to him. Clean and clear cut. Judging from Katsurou Kawaguchi's face, he was either not prepared for the quiz or just did not understand the material. Granted, Kawaguchi pretended that he was a delinquent, but in reality he barely intimidated Nitori. So, he stuck to various levels of pranks throughout the school. Either way, Rin stayed clear of him.

Turning back to his quiz, Rin drummed his pencil against his forehead in an effort to remember the formula for chain rule derivatives. Once it clicked into place, he finished out the final problem, only to discover that twenty-minutes of class still remained. He took fifteen minutes to check his calculations and polish up a couple lines of work before gazing out the window, feeling confident in his abilities.

With ten minutes to spare, Rin's gaze followed the billowy, white clouds floating through the sky. Once out of view, he turned his attention to the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard below. The smallest sliver of pink peeped through each bud. Rin wondered if he would have the opportunity this year to fulfill another dream of his: swim in a pool of cherry blossoms.

A shrill trilling sound from beyond the courtyard, even beyond the school pulled him out of his musings.

The bell signaling the end of class and the quiz reverberated through the halls. After turning in his quiz, Rin grabbed his music player from his desk, shoved the headphones into his ears, and strolled to the cafeteria downstairs for lunch.

After ordering his lunch and sitting, Rin vaguely recalled that Samezuka's sister school, Ikagara Academy, was only a couple of miles down the road. Coincidentally – _or perhaps not_, he mused – the siren from earlier seemed to come from its direction. _Not that it really matters to me anyway_. Rin brushed the thought away, shuffled through songs in his music player, and took another heaping bite of salad.

After all, he had much more important things to focus on like his dives (which he had yet to figure out how to even begin to fix those), his studies, and beating Haru.

* * *

><p>"You have <em>got<em> to be kidding me."

All Rin wanted to do after class was eat dinner, finish up some homework, and then spend the rest of his evening practicing his 100m freestyle race for the upcoming prefectural tournament. Was that too much to ask for? Apparently so.

If asked, Rin would admit that a few strange events already occurred since he returned from Australia:

1. Running into Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa at the abandoned Iwatobi Swim Club.

2. His sister, Gou, becoming the manager of the inaugural swim team for Iwatobi High School. This club just so happened to include Haru, Makoto, and Nagisa. _But they're still missing one member. Good luck with that,_ Rin thought sarcastically.

3. Nitori. Just Nitori.

But _this_ took the cake.

There, in the pool – in the _Samezuka Academy_ swim team pool – was a group of eight girls. _The buoys for the lanes are gone…_ And what were they doing? Synchronized swimming: with raucous, obnoxious music playing. No, much to Rin's dismay, it was _not_ a figment of his imagination. He could not blame it on the suspiciously prepared chicken he had for dinner or his lack of sleep the night before. Nope. It was all right there in front of him in its high-energy, spandex glory.

_And now just their legs are out of the water…_Rin tilted his head sideways, blinked twice, and prayed that the sight before him would disappear. Sadly, it did not. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Nitori – who looked like he was on the verge of passing out. "S-senpai," he stammered, "isn't what they're doing with their legs a bit…" Each swimmer hit a full split upside-down on the next beat. Nitori gulped, "…sexual?" and managed to flush an even deeper shade of red – or was it puce at this point?

_I certainly wouldn't let Gou do any of this, if that's what you're asking._ Not really knowing how to respond, Rin hummed noncommittally.

For a couple of seconds, the swimmers spiraled under the water and clustered together. When they resurfaced, one was _launched_ into the air, spinning innumerable times before diving out of sight. Two beats later, the eight girls regrouped in a close-fitting block formation to strike a final pose that seemed to take up the entire pool, stretching in strange (which appeared entirely uncomfortable) positions.

Music gone, Rin could finally think again. To his right, Nitori opted to sit on the floor and find his mental happy place, staring blankly into an imaginary horizon. Rin figured Nitori was a lot less emotionally scarred than he initially expected, so he did not need too much more attention. _Back to the current problem though…_ Rin scanned the room for his captain, but found he needed to crane his neck a couple times as the synchronized swimmers filed out of the pool. Catching sight of the red-head, Rin made a beeline for the third-year who seemed to be talking to one of the girls who performed earlier. He had _a lot_ of explaining to do.

"Captain, what the h–"

"Matsuoka!" Mikoshiba exclaimed in a honey tone. "Just the guy I was looking for!" Suddenly, Rin felt his senpai pull him flush to his side in a strange rendition of a bear hug. Under normal circumstances, Rin would push away anyone – recently including his own sister – who tried to hug him. However, Seijuurou had a solid ten centimeters on him and there was _no way_ Rin could break free if Mikoshiba wanted to keep him there. _And the bastard knows it too_. "I'd like to introduce you to the third-year captain of Ikagara's synchronized swimming team, Hamasaki Etsuko. Hamasaki, this is Matsuoka Rin, the kid I told you about earlier."

Etsuko seemed nice enough, even without the meaning of her name. She eerily reminded Rin of Makoto, sans the green tinted hair and eyes; each of her features had warmness to them, from the amber flecks in her deep brown eyes to the hints of gold in mahogany hair that fell out of its bun. Surprisingly, she was as tall as he was. Giving Rin a genial smile (_Are you sure you're not a Tachibana?_), she extended her hand and offered, "It's nice to meet you, Matsuoka." A pregnant pause hung through the air as Rin shook her hand, surprised by the existence of callouses on the pad of her hand. Mikoshiba released his hold of Rin only to clap him on the back, tired of waiting for a response.

"It's nice to meet you too, Hamasaki," Rin coughed out in his most polite tone while taking care not to grit his teeth – from both agitation and the stinging pain brought on by Seijuurou's slap. Hamasaki hid a chuckle behind a cough. Once the pain receded, he was able to fully process Mikoshiba's last statement. Raising a quizzical eyebrow at Seijuurou, Rin pressed on, "I have two questions. One," he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the synchronized swimmers drying off and hitting the showers, "why is the Ikagara synchronized team here…in our pool?" Turning his attention back to Hamasaki, Rin added cautiously, "Two, what exactly did captain mean by 'told you about earlier?'"

Etsuko sighed lightly and began untying her bound hair. Combing her fingers through her hair, she frowned slightly in contemplation of how to best approach the subject. Once she figured it out, she engaged Rin matter-of-factly, "Earlier this morning there was a malfunction in the electronics for the smoke detectors and the sprinklers in the aquatics center." _So _that's _what the alarm was earlier. Stupid self-fulfilled prophecy_. "According the fire chief, the circuit boards overheated, caught fire, and," she shrugged, "well, you can guess the rest. It's pretty ironic how the reason that the circuitry that was supposed to activate the sprinkler systems was the part that burst into flames." She laughed humorlessly. Hamasaki buried her face in her palms and let out a muffled scream.

Rin looked up at Mikoshiba who simply shook his head with a befuddled look; no one understood women.

Suddenly, Etsuko shot back up as if she had not just had a miniature meltdown in front of them. "Sorry about that. It's been a pretty hectic day." The smile felt a little forced. Hands on hips, she picked the conversation back up, "Even though it was short notice, our club's advisor contacted yours for permission of extended use of Samezuka's pool. It's just deep enough that it meets the requirements for practices." Tugging at the ends of her hair, Etsuko smiled tremulously, "We were pretty freaked out because we have tournaments beginning in about a month. Luckily," she breathed and calmed a bit more, "nobody was hurt and we now have a place to practice." Hamasaki bowed lowly at Mikoshiba, "Thank you very much, Mikoshiba! I cannot fully express the gratitude my team and I feel for this favor!"

Seijuurou grimaced, obviously uncomfortable with someone in the same year bowing at him. "Uhh… it's not a problem at all. But, we still need to go over practice schedules. It wouldn't do for both our teams to fight over the pool," Mikoshiba jested.

Etsuko giggled at his joke, adding, "No it wouldn't, but the girls could probably take out about," she hummed and surveyed the Samezuka jumping into the pool, "half of the guys you have here." She smirked – the same kind Gou had when she knew something you didn't and would probably hurt you later. _Great, just great_ Rin continued his mental sardonic streak.

Mikoshiba raised his hands defensively, "I don't doubt that, Hamasaki-san!" Tired of the conversation – and the waning time for practice – Rin cleared his throat subtly. Mikoshiba was unimpressed. Dryly, he addressed Rin again, "As for our conversation about you, Matsuoka: we found somebody that just might be able to help you with those dives."

"I have it under control," he rebutted almost immediately. _Liar_ his subconscious poked at him.

"I don't believe you," Mikoshiba retorted smoothly, crossing his arms over his chest with a knowing smirk plastered across his face. _That smirk is getting really old, Mikoshiba._ Rin simply scowled. "Oh come on, Matsuoka, grow up," Seijuurou groaned, "at least meet them and then decide if you want to spend the rest of your swimming career with sloppy starts." Rin clenched his fists inside his Samezuka jacket to avoid punching something.

Rin was about to throw another denial at Mikoshiba when Hamasaki bellowed, "Zolno! Just where the hell do you think you're going?!" This outburst garnered several concerned and confused stares from the rest of the Samezuka team. Out of the corner of his eye, Rin noticed that Nitori was so startled he fell into the pool. "Don't think you can sneak past me!"

Both Rin and Mikoshiba flinched. _Maybe her name doesn't fit…_The Samezuka students slowly turned around to see what caused Etsuko to flip.

"Remind me never to piss her off," Mikoshiba mumbled.

"Done," Rin concurred.

The person dubbed 'Zolno' – who already changed into a lightweight, long-sleeved shirt and shorts – froze mid-step halfway through the exit.(Rin expected that with a name like 'Zolno,' the accused would be male; but considering his own name was _ridiculously_ feminine, he figured he had no place to judge.)

"So…short…" Rin muttered and shared another bewildered peek with Mikoshiba.

"Can't be over 165 centimeters," Mikoshiba huffed.

Etsuko barked from behind them again, "Freezing in place is not going to make me forget you're there, Zolno!" Another communal shudder. _This is ruining our images of masculinity._ Zolno dropped her shoulders and head in defeat before turning about face to her captain. "Come here," Etsuko entreated sweeter than before, "I think I have a solution for what we talked about yesterday."

A crow cawed from a tree branch outside. Rin did not like where this conversation was steering. _And I _still_ haven't gotten in the pool! Does Mikoshiba want me to be eliminated a prefectural's?!_

Zolno's interested was piqued, though as she straightened up and cagily strode barefoot towards the trio. "Yes, captain?" she replied in a thick accent while tying her damp, dark-chocolate hair up into a bun.

"Matsuoka, Mikoshiba," Etsuko grabbed their attention again, "This is Ekaterina Zolnerovich." Rin caught Hamasaki sending Mikoshiba a smug look, who reciprocated fully. Rin _definitely_ did not like where this was headed. "She's going to teach Matsuoka how to properly dive."

A beat of silence.

"What?" Both Rin and the renamed Ekaterina mimicked simultaneously.

"No way," Ekaterina refused flatly. She turned to leave again but Hamasaki grabbed her by the back of the collar, turning the shorter girl around to face the group. Ekaterina stayed planted with her arms across her chest and one hip jutted out. "Please let go, captain," she chanced.

"Nope," Etsuko chimed in a sing-song tone. "Matsuoka here needs help with his diving and I've volunteered you to help him out since you do have experience."

Ekaterina rolled her eyes, unimpressed. "Why?" she nearly demanded dryly.

"Because," Etsuko gritted through her teeth, "Samezuka was nice enough to let us you use their facilities while ours is under repair." She smiled menacingly, "Especially on such short notice."

"Captain, you are squeezing my shoulder too hard. I cannot feel it anymore," Ekaterina deadpanned. Etsuko huffed and released her teammate. Ekaterina rolled her shoulders a couple times to get the blood moving once more before staring her captain down. "Why should I help him if there is nothing in it for me?" she shrugged and turned away a third time.

Rin wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but the only phrase that could describe Etsuko's grin was 'shit-eating.' _Never mind, definitely not a Tachibana. Hamasaki has no remorse._ Etsuko raised her chin and utilized her orotund voice. "Hey, Mikoshiba, how are Matsuoka's English marks?"

If he had a timeline, Rin could identify the exact moment, down to the second, when he felt his stomach drop. _Oh no…oh shit._ It was simple enough to put two and two together and he _desperately_ did not want to be caught in the middle of what was unfolding before him. He tried his best to telepathically plead to Mikoshiba, but once the third-year matched Etsuko's grin, Rin knew he was sunk. "The best in his class," he added sonorously.

Ekaterina halted in her tracks. After Mikoshiba's declaration, she clenched her fists and began tilting her head back and forth, as if to stretch the neck muscles.

Etsuko made a small fist-pump. "Got her."

Zolno rotated excruciatingly slow about one foot and stared calculatingly at Rin. Her eyes were a hard, sharp green. It was slightly eerie contrast to how pale she was. "If he is willing to put in the work," she almost challenged. Rin nodded firmly. Ekaterina flicked her gaze over to Mikoshiba, "When do we start?"

Seijuurou _beamed_. "Seven o'clock tonight, right after we finish practice." He patted Rin on the head. "You have until prefecture's to get his dives into tip-top shape," he grinned, satisfied with the course of events.

"Fine." Ekaterina's eyes found Rin's once more and finished dryly, "We will sort the rest out this evening." Rin restrained himself from wincing again. _Your accent is going to be difficult to work around._

"Right," Rin hummed. As the short girl and her captain – who nearly sauntered with contentment – grabbed their gear and began their trek back to Ikagara Academy, Rin sighed and tiredly included, "Can I swim, now?"

Mikoshiba chuckled, "Yeah, go ahead, Matsuoka. Thanks for your patience." Rin snapped his swimming cap and goggles on while he hurried to rip his jacket off. Mikoshiba interrupted him again, "I expect to see improvement. Prove to me you deserve this."

_If it will help me beat Haru…_

"I will," he commented deadly before finally plunging into the water below.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

'Etsuko' translated literally means 'joy child.'

This is my first time attempting to write anything related to 'Free!' Hopefully I've managed to keep the canon characters…well… in character and that my original characters don't come off as Mary-Sues. If you're not a huge Rin fan, this might not be the story for you. This starts effectively a week or so after he joins the Samezuka team. In theory, I plan to have the plot follow the events of season 1 with the OCs (who should not dramatically impact the direction the show has already set) and perhaps into season 2. Hopefully that made sense.

Also, the 'musical inspiration' is just something I recommend you listen to while reading each chapter. It does not necessarily mean that the characters listen to this type of music.

I apologize in advance for any grammatical mistakes.

Constructive criticism and reviews are welcome.

Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2: Of Idioms and Idiots

"Sea Foam Stuck on the Rocks"

By stalactice

Disclaimer: I am neither affiliated nor claim to be affiliated with 'Free: Iwatobi Swim Club.' I am also not associated with The Wombats or any of their producers or record labels. However, please feel free to enjoy their music in the meantime. I make no profit from this. It is purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement, if any has occurred, is intended. Carry on.

Musical Inspiration: "Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves) [This Acoustic Glitch]" by The Wombats

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Of Idioms and Idiots<p>

"Don't pout, Zolno," Etsuko playfully chastised. "It's unbecoming of a young lady," she giggled while she tried to ruffle the shorter girl's hair. Ekaterina did not find the situation as amusing, frown deepening as she batted her captain's hands away half-heartedly.

Releasing a sigh, Ekaterina grumbled, "You could have warned me, you know."

Etsuko tapped her chin in what appeared to be genuine contemplation, but failed to hold back her grin, her brown eyes glowing with mirth. "I could have," she chimed, "but that wouldn't be as much fun as seeing my favorite little Russian trying not to blow a fuse."

"Blow a fuse?" Ekaterina repeated and blinked at her captain.

Etsuko rolled her eyes, muttered something about 'colloquialisms and figures of speech,' and adjusted the strap of her gym bag on her shoulder. "It's means to lose your temper," she explained as best she could. Ekaterina hummed softly in understanding, green eyes dilating in recognition. "Also you've been avoiding me about English since your first quiz grades came back," Etsuko poked her kohai's arm firmly, "and I thought it was the best way to get your attention."

The short brunette huffed, making her stray hairs float in different directions.

The duo walked in comfortable silence back to the Ikagara dorms for several minutes before Ekaterina asked, slightly exasperated, "Why do I have to teach him how to dive, again?"

Etsuko switched from friend-mode to captain-mode in a mere second. "Because if you don't get your English marks up – it's a miracle, by the way, that you scraped by since last year – then your spot on the team _and_ your scholarship both disappear." Ekaterina lowered her head in remorse. Etsuko pushed some stray bangs away from her face and tried again, softer. "I know you're already busier than any normal human should be able to handle. We _all_ are. But look at this as a plus for both you and the kid. Got it?"

"Ok," Ekaterina resigned. She knew from her first encounter with the maroon-haired boy that they were already off to a poor start. _It would help if you weren't so abrasive towards strangers, _she mused, _and if you could fix your English…and Japanese._ Ekaterina decided that her subconscious was not being helpful at the moment. _Regardless of whether you help Whatsuoka_ _with diving or not _you_ still need help with English._ Mulling over Etsuko's reprimand and her own thoughts, Ekaterina decided that all she really had to lose was more sleep. _Which you don't get much of already..._ Messaging a tight muscle at the base of her neck, Ekaterina muttered in fractured Japanese, "I want to keep my scholarship and stay on the team."

"Good," Etsuko smiled and patted the younger girl on the shoulder. When they approached the entrance to the residency halls, the third-year waved and headed in the direction of her dorm. "Don't worry, Zolno. It'll all work out. See you tomorrow." Swiveling on one leg, Etsuko walked backwards, adding with a cheeky wink, "Take care of Mikoshiba's teammate and make sure not to scare him away, okay?"

Ekaterina relished the crisp tingle of a gush of wind brushing against her bare legs. "Thanks, captain," she shook her head before heading the opposite direction to her own dorm.

After three flights of stairs, Ekaterina was relieved to make it back to her room. Rummaging through her duffel for her keys, she heaved in Russian, "_Either I've gained weight_," which she highly doubted, "_or the stairs have gotten steeper_," which was also impossible. _Or you're just tired…_ her subconscious interjected stonily. "_No one asked you_," she mumbled before discovering the neon green lanyard (complete with sets of dorm and shoe locker keys and a couple of charms), "_Aha!_" and eagerly entered.

The dorm, she guessed, was standard for any boarding school: two desks, a bunk bed, a small dresser, and a bathroom that connected to an adjacent room. Much to Ekaterina's distaste, the walls were a sickly mix of yellow and off-white, which left a nauseous taste in her mouth the first day she moved in. Fortunately, Ekaterina had a roommate who was more than happy to spruce the place up with colors to offset Ikagara's horrendous choice.

"I'm back," she exclaimed politely upon entering, only to find her roommate, Takenaka Shizuku, hunched over her laptop at her desk, attempting to pull her chin-length black hair from her scalp. _Ah, _Ekaterina realized, _it's one of _those _days. Newspaper entries must be due tomorrow._ Shizuku enrolled in Ikagara Academy with the sole purpose of dominating the pre-journalism studies program. And she wasn't too far off.

The first time Ekaterina encountered Shizuku was move-in day the year before. "Hey!" Shizuku beamed as soon as Ekaterina walked through the door, suitcase and a couple cumbersome packages in tow, backpack and duffel wrapped and slung over her shoulders, and scholarship information and class schedule clenched between her teeth.

"Hi," Ekaterina mumbled in rough Japanese around the pieces of paper. Apparently her roommate arrived a couple hours earlier, since she seemed to just finish folding her last cardboard box. Everything she brought seemed to have some hint of purple. _At least it's not neon pink,_ Ekaterina rejoiced.

Shizuku jumped down from the top bunk that she already claimed and blazed through her introductions, "My name is Takenaka Shizuku. I'm a first-year and I look forward to staying with you this year! What's your name? Do you need help with any of your stuff?" She smiled and tilted her head sideways in anticipation.

Ekaterina blinked dumbly for a few moments before spitting her documents on the vacant desk and returning calmly, yet arduously, "Hello. My name is Ekaterina Zolnerovich…uh…Zolnerovich Ekaterina and I am an exchange student here from Moscow. I am sorry, but I am new to the Japanese language. Please repeat?" She felt her neck begin to flush with embarrassment. Shizuku took two steps back and gave the Russian a once-over, tapping her nose, before approaching Ekaterina again and yanking the duffel off her shoulders.

Looking down – since she was still taller than Ekaterina at 170 centimeters – Shizuku smirked, "I like you. You're really cute." The confusion was most likely evident on the short girl's face as Takenaka continued, "There's no need to be so formal with me. I'll help you with that. So, again," she peered through jet black eyes from under her blunt bangs at Ekaterina, "can I help you with your stuff?"

Ekaterina prayed that this pairing would work out smoothly.

Much to her surprise, it did. Although Shizuku was vivacious, determined (she insisted on calling her Katya-chan after two days), and _very_ opinionated young woman (which Ekaterina soon learned was her motivation for pursuing journalism), she was always willing to help Ekaterina out with learning Japanese and, when time permitted, English. In exchange, Ekaterina gave advice and tips about Math and Economics. They roomed well enough together that they requested another year in the same dorm arrangement.

However, this year, Shizuku was the managing editor for Ikagara's school newspaper, _The Ink_ – she complained about that name since day one, mostly for the awful pun – and oversaw the work of the other editors before turning the work into the editor-in-chief. Whenever due dates rolled around, Shizuku became infinitely stressed (the night before the July 2012 edition was due went down in history as "The Great Summer Panic of 2012") and thus had very little time to focus on anything else. Not that Ekaterina minded much; she really didn't want to see her friend so anxious and exhausted. Typically, Shizuku shrugged it off, saying tiredly while tucking her hair behind her ears, "It comes with the territory."

Today, regrettably, did not follow the same model.

Shizuku violently pinned her bangs away from her face, threw her head back over the top of her chair, and groaned. "How many times," she clenched through her teeth, "do I have to tell the first-years that writing about the latest fashion trends in Tokyo are not relevant to this newspaper?" Ekaterina would have answered the rhetorical question had the other second-year not continued her tirade. Throwing her hands into the air, she stared at the computer screen incredulously, as if the words would change by the force of her exasperation, and whined, "We have to wear uniforms. What good does this do us?" Slapping her palms against her cheeks, Shizuku shook her head, and muttered, "Even the extensive 'research' about the Samezuka boys – as _fine_ as they are – last month was better than this."

Ekaterina cleared her throat to pull Shizuku's ramblings to a halt. Hair flipping wildly as she swiveled in her chair, Shizuku's demeanor immediately brightened. "Ah, Katya!" (She dropped the suffix after only a week of knowing each other) She pulled her feet under her thighs to sit cross-legged and smiled, "How long have you been standing there? Rather," scrunching her face and biting the nail of an index finger, Shizuku added, "how much of my little rampage did you hear?"

Holding up two fingers, Katya deadpanned, "Two minutes and more than enough." Shizuku laughed nervously and twirled stands of hair around a finger. Meanwhile, Katya flung the duffel bag over the back of her own desk chair, flopped face-first into her bottom bunk, and heaved a sigh.

"Sounds like your day was just as good as mine," Shizuku drawled sardonically, returning her attention to her laptop, the soft tapping of the keys echoing through their small room. Katya huffed into her comforter. "Need to talk about it?" Shizuku asked, slightly concerned, though a small note of 'please give me an excuse for a break' laced her tone.

Katya rolled over and out of her bunk, leaning her back against the bottom portion of the frame and facing the dark-haired girl. "_Where to begin,_" she mumbled in her native tongue, "Uhh…Did you hear a siren go off earlier?" Shizuku nodded enthusiastically. "That was the fire alarm for the synchronized swimming team's," she paused and mentally searched for the correct word, "aquatic center."

Shizuku sat up straight, emulating certain traits of a puppy, and gasped. "No. Freaking. Way." In an instant she opened a new tab on her word processor and was violently typing away at a new header and a possible title for the apparent storyline. With a final string of words added to her page, Shizuku stared her roommate down, demanding, "Tell me everything." Katya almost swore that she could see sparkles dancing around her face.

_And…her energy's back,_ Katya groaned inwardly. From experience, Katya knew Shizuku was approximately twenty seconds from bombarding her with questions that she really didn't have the emotional or physical energy to do at the moment. Desperately, Katya folded her arms in the universal 'time-out' signal in hopes to slow the other second-year down. Shizuku visibly deflated but optimistically remained at the ready with her laptop now balanced across her knees. "One," Katya began firmly, holding up an index finger, "I was not there. For details, I think you should talk to Etsuko-senpai." Shizuku opened her mouth to ask another question, but Katya continued. "Two," she added a second finger and, to her dismay, nearly begged, "please let me complain about my day without turning it into a story for journalism."

Shizuku scrunched her face up before slurring quickly, "If you give me Captain Etsuko's room number so I can interview her and actually have a proper story to go out for tomorrow then I'll close this laptop and not bother you about due dates for the next issue." She raised a dark eyebrow at Katya to counter her offer. The shorter girl took several seconds to translate the garble, crawled over to her desk, ripped a piece of notebook paper from a spiral, and scrawled her captain's information down. Katya was not stupid enough to _completely_ deprive Shizuku of leads. A moment later, Katya heard the familiar sound of Shizuku's laptop slamming shut as she bounced in her seat, chanting, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…" Katya shook her head as she handed the piece of paper over.

After filing the piece of paper into her journalism binder, Shizuku slinked down to the floor to meet Katya at eye level. "Okay," she smacked her knees for good measure, "hit me."

_Please don't tell me this is another figure of speech. She knows that I can never remember those._ Katya glared impassively.

"Just tell me what happened today," Shizuku relented.

Katya yanked the elastic out of her hair, pounds of hair collapsing down her back, closed her eyes, and began to massage her temples. As she recounted the events that happened (much-too-quickly) earlier that day, Katya could almost see the tiny gears working in Shizuku's head. _Well, that will be captain's problem pretty soon._ When she finished, Katya checked the clock on her desk to see how much time she had left before she had to head back over to Samezuka. _15:58. Should leave enough time to finish up some work and grab dinner before heading over._

Meanwhile, Shizuku decided to lie on the hardwood floor, staring at the ceiling with her arms folded behind her head. "So what you're saying is that your captain and the captain of the Samezuka swim team want you to work together with this boy so that he can fulfill his destiny of being an internationally-ranked swimmer, tutor you in English, and you don't have to give up your place on the synchronized swimming team or your scholarship. About sum it up?" Katya nodded. "Oh, _you poor thing_," Shizuku gave a snarky harrumph.

"I am sorry. I don't understand."

"Look at it this way: I can guarantee you that if our student body knew that you can freely come and go," Katya exaggerated an eye roll, "Okay, more-or-less freely come and go between here and Samezuka to help one of their boys, at least sixty-five percent – if not more – of them would try to sneak into your gym duffel." Once Katya finished translating in her head, she cupped a hand to her mouth and began to snort, only to fall onto her side and break into peals of laughter at the thought of anyone _wanting _to fit into a small bag that smelled horribly of chlorine and hair gel. "You think I'm joking?" Shizuku yelled in her best authoritative tone, though it lost some strength as she held back her own guffaws. "I'm not joking. You know, Akiyama Akira has had her eye on…" she clicked her tongue a couple times, wracking her brain, "oh, what's his name? The one with really good hair...Ah! Kazuteru Minami!"

Katya sent her roommate a slightly concerned glance. "How do you know all of this?"

"Akira was one of the first-years who wrote about Samezuka last month," Shizuku recalled tiredly. "There were more pictures of that boy than of the principal's welcome speech at the commencement ceremony," she added as she stretched out her back. "The point, though, is many girls will chop off an arm or a leg to meet these guys." When the color drained from Katya's face, Shizuku held up her hands and quickly shook her head. "No, no, no! It's just an expression, Katya! Jeez. Get your new tutor to help you out with those, by the way."

A little indignantly, Katya interjected, "Hey!"

Shizuku waved her hand back-and-forth, brushing off the last comment. "As I was saying, try not to complain too much about it, because it could be a whole lot worse. Take advantage of what Etsuko and Samezuka's captain have offered you."

Katya rolled back-and-forth on her bottom, muttering sheepishly, "Yeah, you're right." At another glance towards the clock, she guessed she might as well take some work to-go and just arrive back at the pool a bit early.

After pushing to her feet and helping Shizuku to hers – who chirped an 'Of course I'm right' – Katya grabbed her English and Mathematics textbooks, duffle, and keys. Opening the door, she called, "I'm heading out," but before she could shut the door behind her, Shizuku caught her attention again.

"Oh, Katya! One last thing."

"Hm?" she peered through the crack in the door, green eyes intensely focused.

"Don't forget to enjoy the muscles," she winked. Even after Katya promptly shut the door behind her – a flush crawling up her neck – she could still hear Shizuku's twinkling laughter.

* * *

><p>The Samezuka swim captain had quite an orotund voice. He knew how to hold his teammates' attention, which was admirable considering they were all tired teenagers who probably wanted to just hit the showers and go to sleep. However, it was difficult to take him seriously when his choice of swimsuit was a…speedo.<p>

"The Ikagara synchronized swimming team is a guest at Samezuka and I expect that you lot will keep the locker rooms in order for them. Even if this is an all-boys establishment, it doesn't mean you live like swine!" his voice boomed across the floor.

_To each his own, I guess_ Katya considered. _It's not nearly as bad as the speedos the divers wear. Jeez, what a nightmare._

The captain's 'You're dismissed' and a chorus of 'Yes, sir's rung through the rafters, shaking Katya out of her hellacious memories. To her right there was a surprisingly dry bench, where she set down the work she finished during dinner. As she headed over to greet the captain, she took in the idle chatter of the swimming team as they hit the showers.

"Oi, Kazuteru. When are you going to study for the history exam?" a fairly tall guy with forest green hair and matching eyes hollered. _Kazuteru? Didn't Shizuku mention him?_ Before Katya could ponder any further, another voice volleyed back just as loudly.

"Actually, Uozumi, I already studied for that test." The aforementioned Kazuteru was about 175 centimenters tall – although his friend Uozumi still had a few centimeters on him – and broad shouldered. When Shizuku said he had good hair, Katya thought she was just exaggerating for the sake of the story. His hair wasn't just good, but _fantastic_. It was a wonder how he could keep his hair a light shade of brown without the chlorine ruining it. Katya pulled her own dark hair back into a ponytail and frowned slightly at the split ends from years of gelling and tight performance styles. _I never thought I would see the day where I was jealous of a guy for his hair, _she grumbled inwardly.

"Huh? No fair!" Uozumi whined while Kazuteru snickered. "I thought we were going to study for it together, idiot," he pouted and flicked his towel at his friend.

Their voices became more muted as they finally made it to the locker rooms, although Katya could still make out Kazuteru's satisfied snicker, "I said I _needed_ to study. You just assumed that I wanted to study with you."

Even the caucus laughter of the whole swim team couldn't drown out Uozumi's shouts, "Why you little– "

"Zolnerowitska-san!"

Katya flipped around to see the Samezuka captain head her direction, towel slung over his shoulders and athletic shorts covering his swimsuit. Following a couple steps behind was her future pupil/student/tutor and he looked about as happy with the arrangement as he did two hours earlier.

"Captain, that's not her name," he sighed as he pulled his goggles down to hang from his neck.

The captain grimaced, scratching the back of his neck and biting his lip in embarrassment. "Sorry. I'm terrible with names, especially when they're as foreign as yours. Let's try this again: I'm Mikoshiba Seijuurou, captain of the swim team."

Katya shook her head, "It is not a problem. Your names are just as difficult for me to remember and pronounce." She chanced a smile, which seemed to make Mikoshiba visibly relax knowing he had not offended her. She shook his offered hand, "Ekaterina Zolnerovich. But I am not picky about what you call me. Most are Katya or Zolno," she shrugged lightheartedly. She peered around Mikoshiba's shoulder to see his kohai waiting, arms crossed, looking anywhere but at her. Katya bit her cheek from saying something snide (though she only ever did it in Russian). "I am sorry, but I do not recall your name."

His gaze was startling. Red eyes were definitely uncommon, but Japan was full of surprises when it came to color genetics.

Mikoshiba elbowed the other guy in the ribs, releasing an annoyed grunt. "Matsuoka Rin," he grumbled, but still politely shook her hand.

"Now that we've all properly re-introduced ourselves," Mikoshiba clapped, "Let's go over some of the ground rules. Before you even ask, Matsuoka, yes this does mean that you're allowed to practice after hours." A small smile tugged at the young man's lips, "But only if Zolno-san is working with you," but disappeared instantaneously. "Also, your curfew hours are still in place so the latest you can't stay in here practicing until midnight. To keep him in check, Zolno-san, I'll give you a set of keys tomorrow after practice. Other than that, you guys can work out the rest for yourselves. Understood?"

"Yes."

"Good," Mikoshiba grinned as he started towards the locker rooms. "You two play nice, okay?"

"Mikoshiba!" Katya called out, stopping the third-year in his tracks. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her as she trotted over to her gear and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is my captain's contact information if you need to talk with her about anything."

Mikoshiba blushed and muttered a 'thank you' before continuing on his way.

Once the locker room door shut behind him, Katya turned back to Matsuoka, who now had his hands on his hips, a foot tapping lightly against the wet floor. "So," Katya began apprehensively, "we should get started." She kicked her flip-flops off under the bench when his voice cut her off.

"You can go back, you know." Katya stared him down, eyebrows slanted in confusion. Frustrated, Matsuoka sighed as he pulled his goggles back over his head. "Mikoshiba's not going to know whether or not you're here when I practice. I can figure out how to fix my dives on my own, got it?"

_You arrogant little shit._

"Excuse me?" he snarled, the whapping sound of his goggle straps against the back of his head punctuating the demand.

_And I must have said that out loud._ Katya decided that her best option was to try and play dumb. "What?"

The red-head rolled his eyes, "How should I know? You spouted something off in Russian or something." _Oh, thank goodness._

"Sorry," she waved a hand to relieve the tension in the air. "I was talking to myself. But" she returned his scowl from earlier, "I am not leaving."

Matsuoka stepped up onto the diving block, finished adjusting the goggle lenses over his eyes, added uninterestedly, "Suit yourself," and fell into his diving lunge.

"So what do you think Mikoshiba will say when he comes out from the showers?" Katya asked in a sing-song voice, trying to sound offhanded. Save for the _tick, tick, tick_ of the mechanical clock on the wall above, the room remained silent and still. Matsuoka's grip on the edge of the block tightened and released, as if he was internally debating with himself, before he stood up, turned to face Katya, and shoved his goggles onto his forehead in one fell swoop.

"Alright, what do you want?"

Katya took two steps to the pool and sat down on the starting block next to his and motioned for him to do the same. He released a scoff – _Apparently manners aren't your strong suit,_ Katya thought dryly – but complied a moment later. Katya paused and deliberately chose her words. "Mikoshiba seems to think you need help with diving. Hamasaki _definitely_ knows I need help with English."

"Your point?"

"Um," Katya faltered. After a few seconds of inward scrambling to find the proper translation for what she wanted to say, Matsuoka placed his hands on his knees and pushed to his feet, tusking his tongue in disdain. He moved back to his original position on the block, done with the conversation. Desperate, Katya blurted out in fragments, "Your form... Already three things wrong with it… At least let me show you." She stared holes into the side of his head with bated breath. _I'm not happy that I have to help you either, Matsuoka, but you're going to help me raise my English marks whether you like it or not_.

He refused to move.

But he hadn't leapt.

Still in a lunge, he tilted his head Katya's direction. His eyes looked purple behind the blue tint of his goggles but just as menacing as before. "Then fix it," he challenged in a bored tone.

_Son of a bi-_ Katya reigned in her irked subconscious.

Instantaneously, she shot up and began to fiddle with his feet. While Katya knew his positioning wasn't _entirely_ wrong, using a couple of these tricks would help him launch farther without having to use as much power from his thighs. Then, she moved to his shoulders and neck, which were speckled with small clusters of enflamed blackheads. After two tries of manipulating his shoulder blades, only for his muscle memory to reset seconds later, she ordered, "Relax." The third try, he finally stopped clenching his shoulders. Finally, Katya pulled his chin up so his neck and spine made a continuous line.

Stepping back, Katya assessed her initial changes. Satisfied with the starting point, she relented, "Try this out."

"Will you time me?"

"Hm?"

"From the booth across the pool," he deadpanned.

"Oh," she felt herself begin to flush but held it at bay, "sure." Trotting over, she quickly tried to decipher the Japanese scrawl across the buttons. "Ready!" she shouted and pressed one of several shiny, red buttons. Three shrill beeps came followed by a dull _thrump_.

It wasn't the prettiest dive she'd ever seen, but at least the base was there. Fortunately for Matsuoka, he had really strong legs (whether they were stronger than the average swimmer, she didn't know) and launched about a quarter of the pool's length. _Couple that with some diving technique and he'll really have something going for him._ What probably astounded Katya the most was how fast he was in the water; his arms blurred between flurries of splashes.

Slamming his hand against the pool wall directly beneath the starting block, Matsuoka resurfaced with a gasp and whirled around to get a look at his time, maroon hair slapping him in the face. Katya didn't pretend to know much about swimming stats, so she just rocked back and forth from one foot to the other. However, after half a minute of the Samezuka student simply staring at the board and breathing heavily, Katya made her way back to his side of the pool to make sure he was alright.

As she came around the final corner, Matsuoka pulled himself out of the pool, sat back down on his starting block, water dripping from his hair and pooling at his feet, and stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows of the aquatic center.

Katya figured his silence wasn't a good sign and that their brief encounters were finished. She supposed she wasn't too concerned. Plus, _I have studying to do. Better get a head start on what English I can._ She approached the bench that held her stuff, shoved it in her arms, and headed for the exit, stating evenly, "Have a good evening."

However a slight sound caught her attention right as she opened the door. Curious, she turned around and found herself with a mirror of the same look she sent his way only hours prior.

Scratching the back of his head and swallowing, Matsuoka Rin repeated in a clearer voice, "Do Saturdays around noon work for tutoring?"

Dumbfounded, she gawked at him, "Really? Where?"

Sensing her suspicion, Matsuoka nodded and firmly added, "Really. I was thinking we'd meet in the courtyard here and then head to the library." Standing up, he reached for a towel and began to dry off his hair. From under his bangs he raised an eyebrow. "So does it work or not?"

Hoisting her books higher in her arms, Katya responded sheepishly, "Yes, yes it will work."

"Good," he finished with a nod while he grabbed his goggles and water bottle. "You can head back now. I'll let Mikoshiba know how this," he gestured between the two of them, "went. We'll start ramping things up tomorrow. Sound good?"

Still uncertain of what he thought of her methods, Katya eyed the other second-year warily but decided that, for the night, it was best to listen to him. "Alright. Good night, then," she called and pulled the door shut behind her.

As she strode beneath the street lamps on the path back to Ikagara, Katya smiled as another chill gust of wind brushed across her short-clad legs. Surprisingly, she felt a bubble of anticipation form in her chest for things to come in the spring and summer.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

Ekaterina is a Russian equivalent to Catherine/Katherine and is pronounced 'ye-kah-tye-REE-nah.'

The surname that I chose for Katya (which is a common diminutive of Ekaterina) is Zolnerowich (which means "son of a soldier"), but since there is no direct alphabetical translation for the letter 'w' between English and Russian, I just swapped it out for a 'v.'

Shizuku's surname, Takenaka, means "in the bamboo."

I should probably clarify that I get most of my naming information from . It's a pretty nifty site. I highly recommend you check it out if you're interested.

The pun that's mentioned about Ikagara's school newspaper being named _The Ink_ is based off Ika being Japanese for squid. (Feel free to laugh at me if you wish.) Also, I would like to point out that even though I put a lot of research into the Japanese names and language, I do not speak it. If you have more experience with it – which only needs to be greater than zero to surpass me – please let me know what I need to fix and how. My knowledge of the Russian language is only slightly better, but I am slowly working on that.

Again, I apologize for any grammatical mistakes or instances where the cannon characters do not stay true to their originally written personalities. Hopefully, I can get the plot moving quicker soon.

Constructive criticism and reviews are still welcome.

Thank you.


	3. Chpt 3: Interlude in Sleep Deprivation

"Sea Foam Stuck on the Rocks"

By stalactice

Disclaimer: I claim no rights or affiliations to 'Free!: Iwatobi Swim Club' or KONGOS. Please support the official release of both the anime and the musical group. I make no profit from this. It is purely for entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement intended. So…here it goes.

Musical Inspiration: "Hey I Don't Know" by KONGOS

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: An Interlude in Sleep Deprivation<p>

Rin woke with a startled gasp and a crick in his neck.

_Another nightmare..._ They always started the same: his dad's funeral. Sometimes Gou was there, sometimes it was just him stuck in his ten-year-old body left to run among the mass of people gathered to mourn the loss of a beloved family member. But, more often than not, the throngs would disappear and leave him floating in an eerie green film while fish – whose silhouettes looked like several varieties of shark that his father taught him during their first fishing trip when Rin was five – circled him. Then, as several rows of jagged teeth threatened to swallow him whole, Rin awoke. He thought he would be used to it by this point, but each night (and sometimes morning) it was the same.

Only after his eyes refocused to his surroundings did Rin realize that he managed to fall asleep on top of his homework at his desk. He let out an unamused grunt before slowly sitting up. Well…maybe the slowly part was not the best decision as each muscle in his neck complained copiously. Rin lifted a hand to massage the tense muscles around the vertebrae and over his shoulders. It dawned on him that he did not know exactly how late or early it was; separating two of the slats on the blinds with his index and middle fingers, he felt a slight pang of disappointment that it was still dark outside. _And I still haven't finished the rough draft for history that due in…how many hours?_

He fumbled for his phone on the upper shelf attached to his desk and slid the screen open to check the time. Much to Rin's discomfort, it was definitely still early enough that the light from the small device made him wince. Squinting through his eyelids and lashes, he vaguely made out 0240 and the blinking colon in the middle. Sighing to himself, Rin pushed his hair back and supposed that he probably would not fall asleep again for the rest of the morning.

_Running with the team is going to be _somuch fun _this afternoon._

However, he still needed to finish this paper. Sometimes Rin forgot just how much he despised history classes, especially with Tanaka-sensei's monotonous drawl. But, first, he needed to rub the sleepiness from his eyes.

Despite how small the dorm room was and how familiar Rin became with the arrangement of furniture over the first couple weeks of the term, it never ceased to amaze him how he still managed to run into _something_ when he woke up in the middle of the night – whether to get a drink of water, use the toilet, or go for a run. Tonight, Rin stubbed his toe into something heavy and definitely solid. The constant throbbing through his big toe up through his shin that lasted for two hours after was wholly unwelcome.

It all was entirely Nitori's fault. No matter how many glares Rin sent his kohai's direction, the first-year never seemed the catch the hint that maybe (_just maybe_) he should keep his desk tidier…and his clothes – there _was _a reason that the school provided a dresser. No such luck for Rin yet.

After stumbling into the bathroom, Rin closed the door behind him louder than usual and flipped the lights on. Under normal circumstances, the wincing was solely from the sudden change in light. But now he was wincing because his brain finally registered the pain in his toe…

…and the half paragraph about the Boshin War less-than-elegantly copied backwards on his face. _Of course the ink was still wet when I fell asleep_. Rin heaved another sigh, this time deciding to make it a full-bodied experience. As he felt his shoulders relax down his back, Rin allowed his thoughts to drift to Zolno and her…did he really want to call it help or experience or (dare he say) expertise?

Rin could not say he knew exactly what she did but one moment he was damn near challenging her (and hoping that she would either get frustrated enough with his manners to call off the whole arrangement or be intimidated and sheepishly pull out) and the next the Ikagara student was playing with his feet and his back and neck and _touching him_. People did not touch him. It was an unspoken rule. (One that Nagisa chose to ignore and most people did not know about. Sure, as a child, he was a bit more touchy-feely, but that was not the point.) When the short girl then commanded him to dive after her adjustments, Rin had a small prickle of hope that it would not work. If Zolno was right, then he would actually _have_ to swallow his pride.

He did not expect for her tweaks to shave two-tenths of a second off his personal best.

_Guess you'll have to actually listen to her advice,_ the aggravatingly calm side of his brain hinted smugly.

Rin roughly turned on the tap and began splashing the icy water against his face, drowning out the familiar voices in his head. Snarling, he reached for the bar of soap next to the faucet and almost scrubbed his cheek raw with lye. Streams of black ink dripped off his chin into the sink basin, occasionally splattering against Rin's shirt.

The rings under his eyes were no better than yesterday, but thankfully not any worse.

While rinsing off the soap suds caking to his cheek, Rin kept recalling the numbers that flashed across the clocking board after Zolno 'fixed' a few things with his stance. Reluctantly, he admitted to himself that utilizing her advice was worth a shot.

After patting his face dry, Rin stalked back into the dorm room, managed to avoid the chaos of Nitori's desk, and arrive safely back at his own. Switching on a small desk lap situated under the bookshelf, Rin sighed once more and honed in on his History essay. Thankfully, it only took him another thirty minutes to finish out the draft.

Relieved that he still had time to sleep before his morning run, Rin grabbed his phone and rolled onto his bedspread, uncaring that he forgot to get under the sheets. As the heaviness of sleep took hold of him, Rin grappled for his pillow, promptly pulling it into a hug, and snuggling his head into the fabric of the case. He hoped that the nightmares did not come to him in the few hours of silence he had. He couldn't afford to have those keep haunting him. With Nitori's heavy, steady breathing from the bunk above acting as white nose, minutes later, Rin succumbed to the darkness behind his eyelids.

* * *

><p>Whatever Mikoshiba was drinking in the morning, Rin wanted a piece of it. Mikoshiba could sleep the same number of hours (or even less) as the rest of the team and still <em>bounce<em> with energy. Literally, he was bouncing…and backwards while he barked orders at the team.

"Look alive, maggots!"

Never mind.

Rin wondered what he did in a past life to deserve something like this. He only caught two hours of sleep that morning after his debacle with his History paper because Nitori's nearly unnoticeable open-mouthed breathing suddenly became a cacophony of snores. After twenty minutes of trying to find a position where he could adequately muffle his ears with his pillow (without suffocating himself or his roommate), Rin made an executive decision to start his morning run an hour early.

Now, he was running laps around the whole Samezuka campus with a hyperactive, show-off of a captain.

If he was not so concerned about his physical shape, Rin may have considered trying one of those drinks that promised hours of energy without crashing later. Except, after first period, Rin caught a glimpse of Kawaguchi purchasing one of these drinks from a vending machine and pouring a dozen packets of artificial sweetener he probably stole from the cafeteria into the aluminum container. As he watched on with a suppressed mortified expression, Rin promised himself he would never let his sleep deprivation reach a state where he would resort to such stupidity (even if he didn't already loathe sweets).

Rin shook those thoughts from his head just in time to hear Mikoshiba switch the exercise. Voice ringing across the courtyard, Seijuurou hollered, "Alright! Now switch to lunges!" A series of groans interspersed between the catching of breath followed suit. Unfazed, the captain added another note, "And I want those to be _full_ lunges! If Ikagara's synchro team can do these every day without complaint, then dammit, so can you!" Rin followed his instructions, taking care to keep his hips square and knees in alignment with his second toes. Glancing around, he noticed that a fair number of his teammates didn't quite share the sentiment. At the rate the lunges were progressing, the team would still be in the courtyard by nightfall.

Mikoshiba also took notice of this, unimpressed blank expression firmly fixed in place. From recent experience, Rin knew that being on Mikoshiba's bad side was dangerous territory. Still maintaining his proper lunge technique, Rin watched prudently, waiting for the third-year to snap at the rest of his teammates – which would most likely result in them running more laps (or worse, lunge laps).

However, the universe seemed to be plotting against the eldest Matsuoka child this week. To his surprise, Mikoshiba rolled his eyes and offered with a throaty chuckle, "How about this?" By this point, most of the team halted mid-lunge and stared at their captain cautiously. Mikoshiba flipped his wrist over to glance at the face of his watch. Smugly, he raised an eyebrow and bellowed, "If you lot can finish fifty _proper_," he made sure to emphasize, "lunges in the next five minutes, I'll let you guys watch the last ten minutes of the Ikagara practice."

The shock caused Rin to lose his balance and fall into an almost full split. His teammates, however, were absolutely ecstatic at the prospect and within seconds were off to the races. There were some things in life that Rin decided he _was_ thankful for: warm-up suits to keep him from pulling a muscle when his captain said ridiculous things during lunges, water to prevent dehydration, and shade to reduce the chance of heat stroke (which was entirely possible in his current position because Mikoshiba _did not_ just bribe the team with their sister school's female synchronized swimming team).

A voice he recognized as Nitori's came from above his right shoulder. "Matsuoka-senpai, are you okay?" the first-year asked, concern obvious in his prepubescent sounding voice.

_I'm a guy and I've unintentionally mastered splits. Do you think I'm okay?_ Despite his internal grumblings, Rin nodded and extended his arm up in a silent request for his kohai to help him up. After standing to his full height and mumbling a 'thank you,' Rin checked to make sure that his hamstring was still in good shape. While going through several stretches, he decided no permanent damage was done and resumed the remainder of his lunges, Nitori falling in step with him.

Three lunges of silence later, Nitori chose to speak. "Oh, senpai! Don't forget that we have a joint practice today." If it weren't for the fact that Rin wanted to maintain some form of dignity that day, he knew he would have fallen over again. Instead, he inadvertently swallowed a bunch of air and started a coughing fit, causing Nitori to flail and assure him that he learned CPR as a child.

Rin shook his head vehemently and croaked, "Since when?" He chugged the rest of his water bottle and finished off his lunges. _Is everyone _but_ the Samezuka swim team going to use the _Samezuka_ pool?!_

Nitori shrugged, completed his set, and bent over double to rest his hands on his knees. Breathing heavily, the grey-haired boy asked, "Your sister is a member…er… the manager of the Iwatobi swim club, right, Matsuoka-senpai?"

Rin raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Yes. What of it?'

"Matsuoka-san came yesterday before our practice and asked Mikoshiba-buchou for a joint practice." Nitori draped a towel around his neck, tugging on the hanging ends to pull it taught, and commented, "He made the call. Although, I'm sure, senpai, you're looking forward to seeing your old teamma–" the first-year's sentence trailed off into a strangled squawk when he realized that Rin was sending him a death glare.

_WHAT?!_

In a desperate need for answers, Rin casually told Nitori he would see him at practice before jogging towards where he last saw Mikoshiba. He had some explaining to do…again. Once his captain came into view, Rin grabbed his attention. "Captain!"

Mikoshiba snapped his head in the direction of his name. "Matsuoka, what can I do for you?" he finished cheerily.

_Cut the crap_ is what Rin wanted to say, but begrudgingly thought better of it. Instead, he tried politely, "We're having a joint practice with Iwatobi?"

Mikoshiba grinned, still bubbling with energy. "Mhmm," he verified, demeanor unchanged. It really was astounding how he could still be so openly enthusiastic that late in the day.

Rin waited for the Samezuka swim team captain to continue, since Mikoshiba was typically talkative enough that he unintentionally filled in the blanks to whatever questions the maroon-haired boy had. Alas, Mikoshiba simply continued his eager smile and…bounce on the balls of his feet? _What is he up to?_ Rin heard his subconscious inquire cautiously. Granted, the last time that Mikoshiba had something up his sleeve – yesterday – Rin ended up being sucked into an arrangement with an exchange student that could barely speak Japanese. That premonition he had yesterday? Another one just appeared.

Seijuurou began to hum. _Oh, hell no._

"Captain," Rin cut in a bit more forcefully. Seijuurou scrunched his face up in an effort to look put out at his humming being interrupted. Thankfully, he recovered quickly and beckoned Rin to follow him, calling for the rest of the team to head for the pool. "Why are they coming here?"

Mikoshiba scrutinized his kohai, but seemed to decide not to press Rin about it. Scratching the back of his neck, Seijuurou said, "Your sister came by before practice yesterday and asked for a joint practice because it's too cold for their team to swim in their outdoor pool. I said that as long as they actually qualified as a _team_ – 'cause I don't remember Iwatobi having a swim team when I started here – then they were allowed to join us." He paused for a second to bite the inside of his cheek in contemplation. "I think they need at least four or some-odd members willing to compete to be considered a team."

_Yeah, but last time I checked they only had three members plus Gou._

As if he sensed Rin's skepticism, Mikoshiba continued, "She called this morning to say that they got a fourth member and looked forward to working with us." And…he was smiling again. As they approached the pool doors, Mikoshiba chuckled, "There's no need to frown so much, Matsuoka. It's just a one-off practice until the weather warms up." He opened the door and motioned for Rin to go ahead.

"Thanks, captain," he muttered as he forced his face back into a more neutral stare, which was rather difficult as the Ikagara synchronized swimmers contorted their bodies into positions that looked incredibly uncomfortable. To top it off, half his team was drowning in puddles of their own drool from the benches along the sidelines.

"By the way," Mikoshiba's segue fortunately took Rin's focus off the splashing a few feet from him, "how did the trial run with Zolno-san go last night?"

_Oh, he's enjoying this._ "Her Japanese is functional at best and we didn't exactly…get off to the best start."

"You seem to be making a habit of that," Mikoshiba deadpanned. "I had to drag you by the ear to get you to join the team." Rin inadvertently rubbed his palm over his right ear, quickly trying to dismiss the memory.

Huffing through his nose, the second-year continued, "She's pretty determined, though. I brushed her off, but she demanded she continue. It's kind of annoying actually." Out of the corner of his eye he caught Mikoshiba shake his head and massage his temples while muttering something about 'lack of tact.' Choosing to ignore his captain's grumblings, Rin pressed on, "She must be pretty awful at English if she's willing to put up with this arrangement that you and Hamasaki-san made."

"You still haven't answered the question, Matsuoka."

Rin glanced out at the center of the pool where the short Russian and her cohorts finally finished their number. In a small voice, he added, "She did something with my feet and my back; I'm not sure what exactly. But," he sighed, "whatever she did, it cut my record by two-tenths of a second."

"What?!" Mikoshiba hooted and gave the shorter swimmer a congratulatory clap on the back. "That's awesome! See?" he turned his nose up exaggeratedly in pride – as if he had discovered a new element or planet. "What did I tell 'ya?"

Rin was unconvinced. "You had no idea," he accused.

"Not a damn clue!" he slapped his knee in amusement only to sober up and shrug a moment later, "But, hey, it worked out, didn't it?"

Resigned, Rin nodded. _So far, but it depends on what else she can do._ "Speaking of Hamasaki-san," Rin clicked casually as he watched the synchro team practice tosses several more times, "how do you think she'll react when she finds out that you used her team as ogling bait?" He was satisfied by Mikoshiba's immediate sputtering and the reddening of his ears.

Seijuurou grabbed Rin's shoulder and ushered him over to a corner of the pool. He firmly grit through his teeth, "She won't know that if everyone does the smart thing and keeps their traps shut."

_Only one problem,_ Rin thought dryly, _the people you want to do 'the smart thing' are currently pulling out their phones and taking pictures. Yeah, there's _no way_ Hamasaki's not going to notice this._ Rin pushed down the urge to roll his eyes again.

"Who won't know what, gentlemen?" a sickly sweet voice appeared to their left. _Speak of the devil._ Etsuko stood squarely facing Mikoshiba and Rin with her hands on her hips, part of her weight shifted onto her right leg, leaving her left foot free to tap while she waited for a response while beads of water dripped off the ends of her hair. "I'm waiting, boys," she jeered humorlessly, pulling her mouth into a thin line.

_Great. We've been demoted to boys._

Mikoshiba held up his hands to begin his explanation when Hamasaki broke eye contact and barked over her shoulder, "Oi, Pretty boy!"

Rin peered beyond Etsuko to find Kazuteru Minami squatting by the side of the pool and not-so-subtly taking snapshots of the girl flipping through the air. Upon closer inspection, Rin realized that the team's flyer (he was pretty sure that was the right name) was Zolno. It was not surprising since Rin suspected she was the shortest member of the team. A small tickle from the back of his brain wondered if the Russian would care if teenage boys took pictures of her in a skin-tight swimsuit while she flipped her brains out. But, Hamasaki was going to beat her to the punch either way.

Minami blinked blankly at Etsuko before pointing at his face as if to ask 'Me?'

Hamasaki turned around completely and snorted sarcastically, "_No_, the _other_ pretty boy who's interrupting our practice. Take one more picture and I'll throw you out of the building by your ankles!" At that moment Uozumi shuffled up behind his friend, grabbed him by the shoulders, and pulled him back to the bench. Etsuko must have given the team a menacing smile because Rin saw them quaking. "Thank you very much," she added like honey.

Mikoshiba cleared his throat. "Anyways, Hamasaki-san, we finished a bit ear–"

"As for you," Etsuko rounded on the other third-year, "if I hear that any of your teammates so much a looked at any of my girls the wrong way, I will introduce all of you to my cousin."

Seijuurou scrunched his face in befuddlement. "Your cousin?"

Etsuko pretended to inspect some dirt under her nails. "He's a veterinarian," she commented cheerily. "My aunt was so happy when he graduated with honors and decided to stay in Iwatobi so he's _really_ easy to visit. Do I need to spell it out?"

Rin fought the urge to gulp and cross his legs. Mikoshiba didn't seem to hold back as he tugged at his collar.

"Are we clear, Mikoshiba-san?" Etsuko's voice dropped half and octave. Instead of having the gold flecks Rin saw the day before, her eyes were flat brown disks with a fully contracted pupil.

"Understood," Mikoshiba's voice cracked on the last syllable, though he attempted to cover it up with a cough. "Understood, Hamasaki-san."

_If I'd known that my captain would be such a weirdo, I wouldn't have joined the club,_ Rin grumbled internally.

_Like you're one to talk,_ the logical side of his brain rebutted.

"I'm so glad we were able to have this talk," Etsuko gestured between herself and Mikoshiba. Suddenly, the light returned to Ikagara's captain's eyes. Facing towards the center of the pool, Hamasaki clapped and hollered, "That's enough for today, guys. Good job. Hit the showers and remember to thank the Samezuka students for hosting us on the way out. Oh! And remember to put away the underwater speakers."

"We have underwater speakers?" Mikoshiba parroted as a small vertical line formed between his eyebrows.

Hamasaki grabbed a towel and twirled it around her hair in that configuration that all girls knew how to do. (Rin never figured out how his sister and the rest of the female population could go about their business as if they didn't have all of their hair precariously balanced on top of their heads.) She squatted over a corner of the pool, plunged an arm in, and retrieved a cage-like structure that sort of looked like a speaker. Rin thought about asking more about it but chose not to in favor of stretching some more.

Etsuko rolled her eyes. "You don't; we – meaning the _Ikagara Synchronized Swimming Team_ – do." Rin held back his reminder that they were currently using the _Samezuka Swimming Team's_ pool. He really didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath, especially if he ever wanted to reach the Olympics let alone the prefecture tournament.

Meanwhile, Etsuko hoisted the underwater speaker up to her shoulder with one hand and undid her makeshift turban with another. Gesturing to the speaker with her chin, Hamasaki explained, "These bad boys took out a major chunk of our budget last year. Luckily," she chuckled and the light was back in her eyes and smile, "we made the investment or we'd be _really_ sunk."

"How come?" Rin spoke up from his Achilles' tendon and hamstring stretches near the floor.

The dark-haired third-year shrugged, but continued, "As much as we appreciate Samezuka letting us use the facilities and everything, it would have been useless if we couldn't hear the music." Mikoshiba almost looked affronted, but Hamasaki shook her head. "No offense, Mikoshiba-san. It's just, without these," she rapped gently on the inner plastic casing that surrounded the speaker, "the choreography might as well have been a terrible mime show…" As she trailed off, dropping her towel into a puddle on the floor, Etsuko tapped her temple, "Which reminds me, I'm really sorry about how loud we played the music yesterday. With the underwater speakers, it shouldn't be as much of a problem anymore. Now," she fixed Mikoshiba with another steady glare, "please take care of this speaker while I go help the rest of the girls." Hamasaki promptly dropped her speaker into Mikoshiba's unassuming arms before she stalked off.

Seijuurou grunted while he fumbled with the cumbersome object. Rin felt his begin to pull into a smirk but hid it behind a series of shoulder stretches.

_I tried to warn him,_ Rin thought to himself.

_No, not really,_ a small voice in his head chided only to add, _you kind of half-assed it._ Rin wouldn't deny that.

"Matsuoka, take care of this," Mikoshiba mimicked his fellow third-year's actions and shoved the piece of equipment over to Rin, who glowered through his eyelashes. "That's for not telling me that Hamasaki was standing right behind me."

As Mikoshiba rushed to prevent Hamasaki from throttling Kazuteru (and possibly Uozumi as an innocent casualty in the process), Rin pulled his mouth into a frown when his eyes found Zolno's form. Since he didn't know where the hunk of metal cradled in his arms was supposed to be stowed, he guessed that following her lead would be his best course of action.

Rin readjusted the speaker in his arms and headed in the direction he saw Zolno handing an identical blue box to one of her teammates on the other side of the pool. He decided that walking the long way around the pool was the safer route as he caught a glimpse of Etsuko pulling Kazuteru into a headlock while Mikoshiba tried to calm her down and Uozumi attempted to remove his friend from his current predicament. It was one a rare moment that Rin wished he had his phone handy so he could capture this ridiculous moment. However, he had to keep focused on his current goal, which required the assistance of one obstinate exchange student.

"Zolno," he addressed gruffly to the figure in the pool water below his feet. He was met by a pair of crisp green eyes. Unfortunately Rin forgot his sister's cardinal rule about girls traveling in packs (particularly if they were on the same sports teams) and failed to notice two other girls standing but a meter to his right, bright-eyed, giggles threatening to erupt from their mouths, carrying the same piece of equipment that had been dumped onto him. _Well shit._

"Yes, Matsuoka?" Zolno tilted her head after she helped herself out of the water.

Rin gestured to the object cradled in his arms as if it was self-explanatory. Then again, after her green orbs stared blankly at him for several seconds, nothing so far was self-explanatory for Zolno.

And the giggling duo to his right looked about to pitch laughing fits.

"Where does this go? Hamasaki-san is…" he glanced across the way to find that Etsuko's grip around Kazuteru's neck was not any looser than two minutes. If anything, it was tighter and Mikoshiba's objections were more frantic. "…preoccupied," Rin finished uneasily.

Zolno nodded but didn't answer his question. Instead, she faced the dynamic-giggling-duo and said, "I will return this," while taking the speaker from her teammates. She turned on her heel and strode off only to notice halfway around the pool that Rin wasn't following her. "Are you coming, Matsuoka?" she called over her shoulder, though, Rin noticed, she didn't stop to wait for him.

Rin grumbled under his breath, "Yep. Working with you is going to be such fun." This time, he permitted himself the opportunity to roll his eyes while her back was turned to him before catching up.

At the other end of the pool, Uozumi managed to free Kazuteru from Hamasaki's clutches – though Rin suspected she let go for her own bemusement – which sent both of them falling backwards into the water with a giant splash. Hamasaki crossed her arms over her chest and studied her handiwork with a firm smirk. Mikoshiba settled for smacking a palm over his eyes and shaking his head.

Let the record reflect that Rin deeply regretted his initial assessment of Etsuko. She was as likely to be related to Makoto as a mouse was to being friends with a snake. _Just make sure she never gets wind of the 'clutches' or 'devil' comments,_ he reminded himself.

Mikoshiba recovered enough to boom through the aquatics center, "Alright! Let's finish setting everything up, guys. I expect the Iwatobi members will be arriving any minute now."

It was practically impossible for the day to get any longer, Rin mused.

* * *

><p>After Zolno finished showing Rin the temporary storage locker for the synchronized swimming equipment, they returned to the pool to find that his former teammates already arrived. Mikoshiba and Hamasaki, along with what little of her team had not already headed back to Ikagara, made introductions for everyone.<p>

_Let the awkwardness ensue._

It was as if nothing had changed since middle school, minus the height differences and what Gou referred to as 'the wonders of puberty.' (He swore one of these days he was going to bribe someone at _Monthly Muscle Magazine_ to bar her from renewing her subscription. _Heaven knows she doesn't need any more encouragement, _he thought as a series of sparkles appeared around her face. Maybe if he could not get to the muscle magazines, Rin thought that burning Gou's stash of shoujo mangas would be a close second.) Makoto still acted like a mother hen; Nagisa bounced around with limitless energy; Haru gazed at the water longingly and tuned out the rest of the world.

The fourth member of their 'team,' was still an anomaly. Just from the outlines Rin could see from under the bespectacled kid's track suit, he had a body that might suit the butterfly stroke. Which led to another question: why was their latest member wearing a track suit with 'Iwatobi Track' printed across the back?

Before Rin could get the chance to really size up his (was 'glasses kid' over there his replacement?) competition properly, Gou and Nagisa bounded over to him.

"Onii-chan!" Gou exclaimed with a broad smile. It was not her 'I want something, please go buy it for me' smile or her 'I know something you don't know!' smile. Rather, she looked genuinely surprised to see him there but ecstatic nonetheless. It was a feature Rin hadn't seen on her in ages.

Shoving his hands in his pockets, Rin clenched through his teeth, "Gou, what are you up to?"

_That_ prompted the 'I know something' glint to appear in her eyes. "I have no clue what you're talking about, Onii-chan," she responded sweetly.

Nagisa interjected, "Rin-chan!" _Does there always have to be a –chan?_ Rin recalled morosely. "Are you ready to swim together again?" Nagisa settled into his signature wink and thumbs up pose.

Rin quirked an eyebrow up – part in astonishment, part in condescension – and observed the group before him. Mikoshiba and Hamasaki actually seemed to get along well with Makoto. But, who didn't? Gou and Nagisa waited anxiously for a response. 'Glasses kid' sent him back an analyzing frown. Haru alternated between watching the water and stealing glances at Rin with that same infuriating blank gaze.

"What is this?" Rin heard echo from the covered walkway behind him. _Speaking of infuriating blank gazes_. Zolno flanked his left side and looked up at him questioningly.

Rin shook his head. Turning his attention back to Nagisa, he snorted, "Together? Good luck with that." He firmly pushed Zolno forward. "Introduce yourself. See you after practice."

Before he was quite out of earshot, Rin heard Zolno chatter elatedly (which he didn't know was possible for her), _"Ty gavarish pah-russki?"_

Baffled, Rin chanced a peek back at the group through the large floor-to-ceiling windows. 'Glasses kid' appeared to be the one she was talking to. Even stranger was how much she was talking. Granted, Rin only met her yesterday, but she did not strike him as chatty. Yet, 'glasses kid' managed to make her give a slight smile.

As if she sensed someone watching her, Zolno flickered her attention in Rin's direction, wet strands of stray hair splayed across her forehead and the bridge of her nose. And the smile was gone. All that was left was the green stare. 'Glasses kid' frowned again and pushed the frames back up to the crease of his nose.

With a shrug, Rin set out on his way again as rushed _"Spasibah"_s faded behind him. He initially thought about heading to the library, but found that his feet guided him to the stairs to the balcony that overlooked the pool.

* * *

><p>Not even a minute later, Zolno appeared next to him. "Why are you not practicing?" she deadpanned while watching Mikoshiba finish up his backstroke laps.<p>

"Not worth it right now," Rin continued in the same tone.

"I thought you wanted to improve." She dropped her backpack at her feet and leaned forwards over the railing, folded her arms over one another, and rested her chin atop. Rin scowled at the side of her head, but, unlike the night before, her demeanor did not change. "But," she continued, unperturbed, "do you want to watch your competition first?"

Unwilling to come up with a repartee, Rin settled for, "Something like that." He peered further over the balcony railing to see Nitori pushing 'Glasses kid' onto a starting block. It looked like he was loaned one of Samezuka's old speedos.

"That swimsuit is…" Zolno trailed off.

"Unfortunate." Rin caught her nod even while she balanced her chin on her forearms from his periphery. "What did 'Glasses kid' have to say after I left?"

"His name is Rei. He knew I was Russian because of my name. He knows a few phrases so he was kind and spoke with me." Her line of sight flicked over to Rin's face and eyed him calculatingly. "You do not like him."

Wanting to avoid the direction of the conversation, Rin clicked his tongue behind his teeth. "I haven't actually met him," he resigned and hoped that Zolno would catch the hint and drop the subject.

Zolno pulled her lips back as if she was sucking a lemon, but turned her attention back to the pool a moment later. "Maybe you will learn some tricks for your diving from the Iwatobi team…" she added offhandedly.

The member formerly known as 'Glasses kid' pushed off the starting block and reached a perfect arc at the top of his dive…

…only to flail face-first barely a meter from the wall.

"EH?!" Gou, Nagisa, and Makoto cried incredulously from the sidelines.

"…but not like that," Zolno groaned sympathetically for the newest addition of the Iwatobi Swim Club.

He had the urge to shove his fist in his mouth to hold back his cackles and tears of mirth. Instead, Rin folded his arms against the balcony railing and let his inner-self roll around in hysteria. _A belly-flop? A belly-flop?! Oh this is rich!_

His small moment of triumph did not last much longer as Haru – _once again_ – jumped in to save the day, resurfacing with a sputtering Rei. Once provided with a towel and reunited with his glasses, Rei screeched, "I tried to tell you I can't swim but you practically shoved me into the water!"

A barely audible splash broke through the chaos. The source: who else but Nanase Haruka? _Him and his damn freestyle…_ A small pool of bile pooled at the back of Rin's throat. He looked over at Zolno and vaguely registered his teeth grinding together.

"_Krasivaya_," she whispered, enthralled, in that gibberish she called her native tongue. Rin did not need to know what the literal translation was. She had the same _damn_ look everyone had when they first saw Haru dive, let alone swim. Her eyes were sharp, clear, and completely honed in on the Iwatobi 'prodigy.' At the last stretch of Haru's lap, Rin noticed that Katya hoisted herself a few centimeters higher in order to lean across the wall of the balcony and get a better look at the boy.

_Another one gone,_ he checked off mentally and rolled his eyes. _Hook, line, and sinker._ Not really wanting to listen to her babble her way through how amazed she was with his rival's form, Rin shoved his hands into his black tracksuit pockets and headed for the stairs. He didn't need any of it – tired enough as he was.

"What did I say that was incorrect?" he heard her throaty accent from behind.

Rin called back as he plodded down the first set of stairs, only to hear her footsteps follow, "The phrase you want to use is 'what did I do wrong?' There's a difference between 'incorrect' and 'wrong,' Zolnerovich-san." Rin surprised himself how he was nearly spitting by the end of the sentence.

The echo of her footsteps against the cement steps quickened and before Rin could properly react she was in front of him, glaring up at his defiantly with her shoulders squared. It looked absolutely ridiculous since she was even shorter than usual standing on the steps below him. "You did not answer my question," she demanded. When he tusked at her, she raised an eyebrow (which seemed to be a favorite facial expression of hers) and asked monotonously, "What did I do wrong?" Rin had more than a sneaking suspicion that she was trying to insult him.

"Fine," he gritted. "I'd rather not listen to you tell me how great _Haru the Magnificent_ is. Trust me. I've heard it a thousand times." Done with the topic of conversation, Rin used his shoulder to brush past Zolno and reached the bottom of the staircase.

"His form is incredible but it lacks power."

That got Rin's attention. Intrigue getting the better of him, Rin turned around to watch Zolno trot down the remaining steps, though he realized she stayed on the second from the bottom to look him directly in the eye. Despite his reluctance to work with her, Rin guessed she deserved credit for knowing how to reel him in so early into their working relationship.

Not that he would ever admit that out loud.

Searching her eyes for any signs of deceit, Rin sighed and nodded for her to continue.

She broke eye contact when Rin saw her begin muttering translations under her breath. _She _really _needs to work on that,_ he prattled internally. Once it seemed she had a clear bearing, Zolno began. "Even though your form is not perfect," at his frown, the Russian lifted a finger for him to wait, "you have a... exceptional amount of power." While Rin wasn't one to turn down his ego being stroked, he still wanted to know how that compared to Haru. "Your drives have the same…" she stumbled – clenching her eyes shut and lightly thumping herself lightly on the forehead and made an 'aha!' face – but seemed regain her train of thought, "displacement."

Displacement wasn't _technically_ the right word but Rin thought it best to simply let her observation sink in: he and Haru entered the water the same distance from the starting blocks. Then, a thought struck him. Curious, he prodded with his own conclusion. "So…" Her sharp eyes really set him on edge (as if they bore into his skull), "if I can improve my own diving form, then I have a shot at starting ahead of Haru and winning?"

That seemed to confuse her. "Shot? Win?"

Rin huffed, agitation boiling in the pit of his stomach. "A chance at winning," he dragged out the last syllable, waiting for the Russian to understand. Once it became clear from her blank expression that she didn't catch the colloquialism, Rin sighed and filled in the gap, "At the prefectural tournament." She simply shrugged as if asking 'and your point?' _Good to know she can communicate without having to speak,_ he thought dryly. Regrouping, Rin decided that asking her point-blank was his best option. "If my dives improve – where I don't drag on the entry – can I beat him?" To clarify _exactly_ who 'him' was, Rin pointed back up the staircase where the splashes from the joint practice continued.

Recognition lit up in Zolno's eyes and Rin, surprisingly, was impressed by the confident vibrato in her voice despite the heaviness of the tone, "Yes."

Rin blinked at her. Once, twice, thrice. _Yep_, his brain poked, _you're definitely going to have to repay her somehow._ Stamping down his reluctance and pride, Rin nodded to her backpack.

"Can I see some of your notes and quizzes from class?" He held out an expecting hand.

Zolno's face contorted into something that might have been a grimace, but looked more like she was nauseous. Still waiting, Rin flicked his fingers, motioning her to hand whatever she had over. She clenched her eyes and groaned, but slung her backpack off her shoulders only for it to fall with a heavy _thump_ onto the step beside her. _I wonder if she carries bricks in there for strength training,_ Rin thought sardonically.

He realized a second later that it actually was not a bad idea for core strength and stability training. _Dammit._

Much to the relief of Rin's subconscious ramblings, Zolno eventually, though very evidently reluctantly, handed over a bright yellow binder with Cyrillic scribbled along the spine. Upon opening her notes, Rin discovered that foreign languages _really_ were not her thing. Sure, when he was speaking English, sometimes he had to run a few literal translations through his head, but that seemed to be what Zolno did for both her second and third language.

It was almost as if everything was a series of equations to her. She arranged her notes into three columns. On the far left were the phrases and vocabulary words the class learned for that day; in the center, the Japanese equivalent; on the right, her Russian translations. From Rin's personal experience, it _definitely_ was not the easiest way to learn a new language, but he supposed that some people could get by like this.

But if she was able to do that, then she would not need his help (no matter how little they really wanted to interact).

After he finished flipping through her notes, Rin came across her first quiz of the term. He wanted to hit his head against the door behind him a few times, but found he already had a headache forming. _Stupid lack of sleep._ Based upon the few glances at Nitori's English homework, Rin knew that his roommate… struggled with some of the sentence structure of English.

But _this_ was just abysmal. _How did she even get through first-year English?!_ he stared dumbly at the sheets that seemed stained with red ink.

Rin heard her release a frustrated snort. "You do not need to look so strangely at them. I know I am not good in this class."

_No? Really? I couldn't tell!_ Rin's brain decided to throw a temper tantrum.

Nonchalantly, Rin offered the binder back to the Russian. "At least I have an idea where we can start this weekend. We should start on Saturday around noon instead of Sunday. Does that work for you?" Zolno nodded while shoving her materials back into the backpack. "Good." He turned to the exit and waved casually as he headed back to his dorm to catch up on some sleep before he had to meet up with Zolno again.

"_Da_," he heard her call faintly back.

Once he reached the dorm, Rin pulled up a translator on the internet and smirked at her confirmation of their deal.

His pillow never felt so good under his head.

* * *

><p>Author's Notes:<p>

Some helpful Russian translations:

_Ty gavarish pah-russki? _(Ты говоришь)= You speak Russian?

_Spasibah _(Спасибо) = Thank you

_Da_ (Да) = Yes

If you can read Cyrillic, kudos to you! If not, I did my best with the Romanization of the words.

I am so sorry I took so long to update! I originally had a different idea for the beginning of this chapter, but was unhappy with the direction it was going. It really is no excuse, however I felt that you guys would appreciate my best efforts at writing rather than being quick to update (although it sure would be nice to manage both!).

As always, I apologize for any grammatical mistakes, out of character instances, or moments where my diction is confusing.

Reviews, question, concerns, and critiques are welcome.

Thank you.


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